Retention Policy for Archived Backups

For archived backups, Veeam Backup for AWS retains restore points for the number of days defined in backup scheduling settings

To track and remove outdated restore points from an archive backup chain, Veeam Backup for AWS performs the following actions once a day:

1. Veeam Backup for AWS checks the configuration database to detect archive backup repositories that contain outdated restore points.
2. If an outdated restore point exists in a archive backup repository, Veeam Backup for AWS transforms the archive backup chain in the following way:

1. Veeam Backup for AWS rebuilds the full archive backup file to include there data of the incremental archive backup file that follows the full archive backup file. To do that, Veeam Backup for AWS injects into the full archive backup file data blocks from the earliest incremental archive backup file in the chain. This way, the full archive backup ‘moves’ forward in the archive backup chain.

2. Veeam Backup for AWS removes the earliest incremental archive backup file from the chain as redundant — this data has already been injected into the full archive backup file.

3. Veeam Backup for AWS repeats step 2 for all other outdated restore points found in the archive backup chain until all the restore points are removed. As data from multiple restore points is injected into the rebuilt full archive backup file, Veeam Backup for AWS ensures that the archive backup chain is not broken and that you will be able to recover your data when needed.